This invention relates generally to circuit boards and more particularly, to a circuit board constructed to be releasably held in a retainer.
Printed circuit boards are being increasingly used in a wide variety of applications. Typically, printed circuit boards are loosely and unsecurely held in place by the wires attached to them or are loosely received in or on a frame which supports them. As an alternative, to provide a more secure connection of the circuit boards to the frame, the circuit boards may be held in place by clips or bolts separate from the circuit boards and attached to the frame. Undesirably, the unsecured and loosely arranged circuit boards are difficult to connect wires to and permit the wires once connected, to become unintentionally disconnected in use. Further, securing the circuit boards to a frame or other retainer with a separate mechanical device such as a screw, clip or the like, requires an extra assembly step and thereby greatly increases the cost to manufacture and assemble the device and the circuit board into the device.
A circuit board having at least one resilient leg with a catch constructed to releasably engage a shoulder of a body to releasably retain the circuit board in the body. The circuit board may be slidably received in a slot of the body until the catch engages the shoulder to securely and releasably retain the circuit board within the body. Desirably, the circuit board has an outwardly extending shoulder at the end of the leg opposite the catch to limit the insertion of the circuit board into the body so that the catch remains generally adjacent to the shoulder. This eliminates the play or looseness in the connection between the circuit board and body by preventing the circuit board from being significantly advanced beyond the point wherein the catch engages the shoulder.
In one embodiment, the circuit board has a single leg formed therein by cutting a slot parallel to and slightly inboard of an outer edge of the circuit board to define an inner surface of the leg. A recess or cavity may be provided in the outer edge of the circuit board, preferably inboard of each end of the leg to define the catch and the shoulder at generally opposed ends of the leg. So formed, the leg is somewhat flexible and resilient such that upon insertion into a slot of a body having a width slightly less than the width of the circuit board measured at the outermost point of the catch, the leg will flex inwardly to permit the circuit board to be received in the slot. The slot in the body has a length less than the length of the circuit board so that when the circuit board is fully inserted into the slot, the catch is received beyond the slot to engage a shoulder of the body and retain the circuit board in the body. In another embodiment, a pair of legs are formed on the circuit board with one leg adjacent each of a pair of opposed sides of the circuit board. The legs are preferably substantially identical, but mirror images of each other to provide a catch extending generally outwardly from each of the opposed sides of the circuit board. When inserted into a slot of a body, each leg preferably flexes generally inwardly until the catch of each leg is slidably inserted beyond the slot permitting the legs to return to their unflexed position so that the catch of each leg engages an adjacent shoulder of the body.
Objects, features and advantages of this invention include providing a circuit board that can be securely and releasably retained within a body, is integrally formed with a mechanism to releasably retain the circuit board in the body, does not require separate mechanisms to secure the circuit board to a body, facilitates connecting plugs or wires to the circuit board, is reliable, durable, of relatively simple design and economical manufacture and assembly, and in-service, has a long useful life.